The National Weather Service on Monday expanded its flood watch to cover the Worcester and Springfield areas through the night as rains continued through the evening commute.
“The Flood Watch has been expanded further west and now covers the Hartford, to Springfield, to Worcester metro areas,” the weather service wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, at 9:40 a.m.
The watch is in effect until 2 a.m. Tuesday, forecasters wrote.
Showers persist with a low prob of embedded thunder into the evening, followed by gradual clearing late tonight. A Flood Watch remains in effect until 2 AM, as there's potential for locally heavy rainfall that could lead to flooding. Drier conditions tomorrow ☔️ #RIwx #MAwx #CTwx pic.twitter.com/ru2bsaipVb
— NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) September 18, 2023
The rain was expected to last through the evening and “perhaps to midnight,” forecasters said Monday afternoon.
“Widespread showers with occasionally heavy downpours will move in early Monday morning and continue into Monday evening,” forecasters wrote earlier. “Some heavier showers and thunderstorms could lead to localized urban and poor drainage flooding. Dry and very pleasant weather returns Tuesday through Friday with cool nights and mild days.”
Tuesday is set to have “pleasantly seasonable temperatures” in the low to middle 70s, the weather service wrote.
Advertisement
On Tuesday, locals can anticipate pleasantly seasonable temperatures ranging from the low to middle 70s.
The advisory came after the Atlantic storm Lee pummeled a large swath of New England and Maritime Canada with damaging winds, rough surf, and torrential rains on Saturday. Tropical storm conditions and coastal flooding also affected parts of coastal New England and Atlantic Canada.
Lee followed its forecast path to Canada well east of Nantucket, according to the National Weather Service, and early Saturday morning forecasters downgraded the storm to a post-tropical cyclone.
Lee traveled by Massachusetts in a weakened state Saturday, but government officials were not taking any chances.
Shortly before 11 a.m. Saturday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that President Biden had approved federal disaster assistance for Massachusetts.
Advertisement
Then about an hour later, Governor Maura Healey’s office announced she was lifting the state of emergency she had enacted the day before.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. Material from previous Globe stories was also used. Globe correspondent Breanne Kovatch contributed.
Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.